r é ' M ,
Mil '
3518. Cid tu re . When sown in April, it begins to proiluce in November, and continues bearing the
heads and sprouts throughout the winter, in mild seasons ; if sown in June, it produces abundance of
sprouts in March und April. It should be planted 3 ft. apart in rich ground.
3519. E a r ly w h ite broccoli. The heads of this sort are of a close texture, and of a pure white colour
It grows to about 3 ft. in height, with erect, concave, light-green, and nearly entire leaves.
3520. Culture . To obtain heads fine and early, the seed should be sown in February, or beginning of
March, on a slight hotbed. The plants, when about 3 in. or 4 in. high, must be transplanted into beds
of light rich earth, 3 in. or 4 in. apart, and defended from the frost and cold nights by a mat coveriiiK •
they will be strong enough to plant out at 2 ft. or 3 ft. distance by the end of April : under this tre a tment,
they will produce beautiful heads in November, and continue to do so until Christmas if the
weather is tolerably mild. This sort, as well as several others, is sometimes cut in considerable quantities
by the market-gardeners, previous to an expected frost, and kept in sheds or cellars for the sunolv
of the market.
3521. D w a r f broion close-headcd brocccoli. From its resemblance, I take this to have sprung from the
sulphur-coloured broccoli, from which, however, it differs, by coming in earlier, as well as in the shape
and colour of its head ; the leaves arc also shorter and broader than those of the sulphur-coloured ;
they are small, not much waved, dark-green, with white veins ; they grow upright, and do not cover thè
e green on th e ir first appearance, but soon change head at all. Most o fth e crowns a to large, handsome,
brown heads.
3522. Cullure . If sown about tho middle of April, it is in use through March and April. 2 ft. distance
is sufficient for th e plants, when p u t out.
3523. T ail large.headed p u rp le broccoli. This sort produces large, tall, purple heads, at 2 ft. and 3 ft.
in height. ’ x e
3524. Culture. If sown towards the end of March, it will prove a useful kind in March and April.
The plants should be 3 ft. asunder, in good ground.
_ 3.525. Cream-coloured o r P o r tsm o u th broccoli. This Is a very noble sort, exceeding all th e others in
size. It is of a buff or cream colour, and has a very compact firm head : its leaves are large and broad,
with white veins ; they spread out widely, bnt the small centre leaves cover the flower. A head, sent by
Oldacre, from the garden of Sir Joseph Banks, to the Horticultural Society, on th e 5th of May, 1819,
measured more than 2 ft. in circumference, although it was quite close.
3.52G. Culture . Seeds sown in the middle of April will be in perfection during the following February,
March, and April. It bears near the ground. The plants should be planted 3 ft. asunder.
3527. S ulphur-coloured broccoli. A hardy and valuable sort. If sown in April, it produces in the following
April, and beginning of May, fine, compact, conical, sulphur-coloured heads, some of them
slightly dotted with purple. T h e leaves have long foot-stalks, are much indented, and of a bluish-grev
colour. ^
3528. Culture . 2 ft. distance will be sufficient for the plants to grow well.
3529. S p r in g w h ite , o r ca u lid owe r broccoli. This sort grows very robust, with large leaves, flat and
narrow, with thick veins ; the leaves encompass and compress tbe head, so as to render it generallv invisible
when fit to cut, which is a great preservative from the frosty mornings common in the spring
3530. Culture. Sow in March, and plant out a t 3 ft. distance. When in good ground, it will produce
very fine heads, perfectly white, throughout th e months of April and May of the following year.
3d31. L a te d w a r f close-headcd purp lcb ro c co li. This is the latest purple broccoli, being in perfection
throughout April and the greater part of May. The plants seldom rise above 1 ft. in h e ig h t; the flower
a t first shows small and green, but soon enlarges, and changes to a close, conical, purple h e a d ; the leaves
are short and small, dark-green, with white veins, much sinuated, deeply indented, and forming a regular
radius round the flower, giving the whole plant a singular and beautiiul appearance.
3.532. Culture . The seed should be sown in April, and the plants must stand from U ft. to 2 ft. apart.
3533. L a ie s tg r e e n , o r S ib e ria n , o r D a n ish broccoli. This is the latest and hardiest of all the broccolis
for the severest winters will not destroy it. I’he leaves are much undulated and indented, narrow and
long, with a tinge of purple colour in the stems.
3534. Culture . If sown towards the end of April, it will produce large, compact, green heads during
the whole succeeding May. 2 ft. distance is sufficient for the plants.
3535. K n ig h t's p ro te c tin g broccoli is a variety originated by the President of the H o r tic u ltu ra l Society.
It IS said to produce a bracteal leaf on one side of the flower, which rises up. and folds over it, thus protecting
I t from the sun or the ram. It is as white as a cauliflower. It may be treated like the latest
green or Danish.
3536. G eneral observations o n the cu llu r e o f broccoli. All the sorts are raised from seed; and for a bed
A ft. in width by 10 ft., Abercrombie says, 1 o z. o f seed is sufiicient.
3-537. Seed-bed. Ronalds, in the paper above quoted, directs the seed-beds to be prepared of rich mould
well dug, and, if dry. watered the evening before sowing. T h e seeds must be thinly sown, and the beds
should be covered v ith mats or litte r till th e plants appe ar; the covering may then be removed, and the
,.,„A— , 1 ------------------------------ -AU------- lire s ; should th a t continue very ’ • - •
plants watered occasionally as th e state of the weather req u ires; should th a t continue very dry, the best
method is to transplant, when the plants are about 2 in... or 3 in. high, into other beits,beets,
a’ - ' ' '
asunder. Being several times refreshed by sprinklings o of fw water,ater, they will, in a fortnight or th
three weeks,
be sufficiently strong for a second remove. This mode offers some advantage in giving time to clear off
any crops of peas, &c., thereby obtaining ground which could not otherwise be conveniently had a t the
first season of planting out. The flrst four sorts on the list, which are considered as congeners, should
be only once transplanted, as the check th eir removal occasions is apt to produce th e heads prematurely
which, in that case, will be small, and indiflero- n.t. in-- q, u--a--l-it^y-.- ----I-f- -t-h- e season .iOsT „s.h..ovwweerryy,, iitt will be needful to cover th e beds, as soon as sown, with netting, to keep off the birds ; also to sprinkle the plants when
they appear with lime-water, or to strew on them fresh-slacked lime, to destroy the sIuks. In this case
—w^h"enn tthhee ppl'a”"nt*s -a'r-e^ G in. or °8 in. high, *th’--e-y-- -m---a-y-- b’--e- -p-’i a—n Ate-d.. - Aat ..o...n..c...e..’.a..t. ..t.h..e... .d...i.s..t.a..n...c..e..s.. .r. e°c ommen.d e.d l.b r’
each sort.
3538. Wood, a writer in the Caledonian H o r ticu ltu ra l M ernoirs, says he has paid a considerable degree
of attention to the cu ltu re o f broccoli, and has made consklerable progress therein. He finds that
manuring with a compound of sea-weed and horse-dung produced the largest and finest heads he had
seen during a practice of fifty-four years.
3.539. C u ltu re loiihout tra n sp la n tin g . M'Leod grows cape broccoli in a very superior manner without
transplanting. In the end of May, after having prepared the ground, he treads it firm, and by the nssist-
'1 rows 2 ft. apart, dropping three or four seeds into holes 2 ft. distance
'h e freance
of a line, sows his s
from each other in the row. When the seeds vegetate, he destroys all except the strongest, which are
protected from the fly, by sprinkling a little soot over th e ground: as the plants advance, they are frequently
flat-hoed until they bear their flowers; they are once earthed up during thoir growth. A
specimen of the boccoli thus grown was exhibited to the Horticultural Society; the head was compact
and handsome, measuring 2 ft. 9 in. in circumference, and weighing, when divested of its leaves and
stalk, 3 lb s .; the largest of its leaves was upwards of 2 ft. long. M'Leod adopts the same mode in the
cultivation of sprmg-sown cauliflowers, lettuces, and almost all other vegetables, avoiding transplanting
as much as possible. (H o r t. T ra n s ., vol. iv p. 559.)
3.540. Club a t tk e root. In old gardens, infested, as is often the case, with an insect which in summer
insinuates itself into the roots of all the bra ssic a tribe, and causes a disease usually callod the club,
trenching the ground deep enough to bring up 4 in. or G in. of fresh undisturbed loam or earth, will
probably bury the insects too deep for mischief, and pp
In gardens much exhausted by reiterated cropping, if t
frosh loam from a common or lield, dug in, would mate
ide fresh ground for the benefit of the plants,
this mode cannot be adopted, a good quantity of
- -0 —, d materially improve the broccoli, and be of lasting use
to future crops. Broccoli, in general, succeeds best in a fresh loamy soil, where it is thought to come
more true in kind, and is hardier, without dung ; but if this situation cannot be had, deep digging, witli
plenty ol manure, is the only remaining alternative to procure good crops. Soap-ashes, dug into the
ground in considerable quantities, are said to be a good preservative from the club ; and if the roots of
the plants, ju st previousiyto planting,are dipped and stirred well about in mudor soap-ashes with water,
Its adherence will, in a great measure, preserve them from attack: perhaps a mixture of stronger ingredients,
such as soot, sulphur vivum, tobacco, &c., would be still better. (H o r t. T ra n s ., vol. iii.)
3.541. P r e s e r v in g broccoli d u r in g xuintcr. Ronalds observes, that, though broccolis come larger and
finer on th e spot where they are planted, yet it is prudent to take up a part of the later “ sorts in the
beginning of November, disturbing the roots as little as possible, and lay them in slopingly, with their
heads towards the north, only a few inches above the ground, and about 18 in. asunder. By this means
the crown of th e plant, lying low, is soon covered and protected by the snow, which generally fulls
previously to long and severe frosts ; th e plant is also rendered tougher in fibre, and hardier, by the
check received in this last removal.” Broccolis might probably be preserved, during severe winters
by sticking the ground over with old pea-sticks, or with branches of hazel, or other shrubs, so as to
form a sort of artificial copsewood over the plants; or each separate row might have a row of the fronds
ol the spruce flr placed on each side of it, meeting in the middle, so as completely to protect tho plants.
Mulching them close np to their necks with fern would, probably, produce the same effect.
3542. K n ig h t, having practised laying in his broccoli plants in November, in the usual way, found but
small heads produced from them in the succeeding spring ; till he tried trenching or laying them in in
the month of September, and “ so low as that the centre of the stem a t the top of each plant was level
with the surface of the ground.” The plants are watered, roots are properly emitted, and the earth
drawn round each plant before snow is apprehended. The consequence of this treatment is, that the
plants are fresh and vigorous io spring, and produce large heads. (H o r t. T ra n s ., vol. i. p. 305.) Nicol
takes up the most Jorward crops of broccoli in the end of October, and lays them on their sides, so as
th e heads may not touch each other. In a dry soil aud open situation, the plants will thus resist the
severest winters. Whore it is convenient, broccoli may be kept, like cauliflower, in th e h ea rt of a pcat-
stack, or b u n ed m bog-moiihl.
3.543. Ga fh e rin g , In gathering broccoli, 5 in. or 6 in. of the stem are retained along with the head ;
and in dressing, the stalks are peeled before boiling. Some of the sorts produce sprouts from the sides
of the s t ¿ s , with small heads, th at should be gathered when ready, and are very good when boiled.
3.544. To save seed. Wood, already mentioned, selects the largest, best formed and finest heads, taking
particular care that no foliage appears on the surface of the heads ; these he marks, and in April lays
them m by the heels in a compound of cleanings of old ditches, tree-leaves, and dung. When the head
begins to open or expand, he cuts out the centre, leaving only four or five of the outside shoots to come
to seed. lAÍfting,hesays, prevents them from producing proud seeffias it is called, or degenerating. The
above method produces seed the most genuine of all th e others he has tried. T h e sulphur broccoli he
finds the most difficult to procure seed from. (Caled. H o r t. M em ., vol. ii. p. 267.) Abercrombie says
broccoh-seeds degenerate in this country, and that the best seed is obtained from Italy.
S u b s e c t . 8 . O f the Insects which infest the Cabbage Tribe.
3545. The whole o f the cabbage tribe are liable to be attacked, in eiraiy stage of tlieir
growth, by various insects. Slugs and snails also injure the young plant vciy much, if
not diverted from it by tlie more tempting food of young radishes, sown as before mentioned
(350C.). The roots of the .Srássica family arc injui'ed and frequently killed by
the larvæ of the Típula olerácea, vulgarly called gaffer long-legs. This laiva may be
known by its long, rounded form, and by its being destitute of feet. It may be, iu a
great measure, destroyed by cutting slices of potato, sticking them upon skewers, and
then buiying tliem 2 in. or 3 in. in the gi'Ound, close to the plants most injured. By
this food the maggots are enticed ; and by taking the bait up cveiy one or two days,
great nurabers will bo caught. Soot-water poured close to the stem by a watering-pot
is also said to be cfficaceous. The cauliflower is more particulai-ly attacked by a fly, or
diptcrous insect, which deposits its egg in the pait of the stalk which is covered by the
earth, and the maggots, when hatched, occasion the plant to wither and die, or to produce
a worthless head. Against this enemy no defence has yet been devised. There
ai-e three buttci-flies which, in thcir caterpillai- state, commit gi-eat ravages on the leaves
of all the cabbage tribe : these are the large garden white butterfly (Póntia brâssicæ F.),
the small garden wliite (Pónti« rapai), and the gi-cen-veined white (Pónti« nàpi)
ifig. 775.). The caterpillar of the first is greenish yellow, mm;a i’k’ cd’ with blac-k spots j
taP Iil ; i l l
•i' i'i!